Tellurium and Selenium Cycling and Supply

碲和硒的循环和供应

• 批准号: NE/M011615/1
• 负责人: Iain McDonald
• 金额: $ 56.94万
• 依托单位: CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2015 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FM011615%2F1
• 关键词: Tellurium; Selenium; Cycling; Supply

A shift from fossil fuels to low-CO2 technologies will lead to greater consumption of certain essential raw materials. Tellurium (Te) and selenium (Se) are 'E-tech' elements essential in photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. They are rare and mined only in small quantities; their location within the Earth is poorly known; recovering them is technically and economically challenging; and their recovery and recycling has significant environmental impacts. Yet demand is expected to surge and PV film production will consume most Se mined and outstrip Te supply by 2020. Presently, these elements are available only as by-products of Cu and Ni refining and their recovery from these ores is decreasing, leading to a supply risk that could hamper the roll-out of PV.Meeting future demand requires new approaches, including a change from by-production to targeted processing of Se and Te-rich ores. Our research aims to tackle the security of supply by understanding the processes that govern how and where these elements are concentrated in the Earth's crust; and by enabling their recovery with minimal environmental and economic cost. This will involve >20 industrial partners from explorers, producers, processors, end-users and academia, contributing over £0.5M. Focussed objectives across 6 environments will target key knowledge gaps.The magmatic environment: Develop methods for accurately measuring Se and Te in minerals and rocks - they typically occur in very low concentrations and research is hampered by the lack of reliable data. Experimentally determine how Te and Se distribute between sulfide liquids and magmas - needed to predict where they occur - and ground-truth these data using well-understood magmatic systems. Assess the recognised, but poorly understood, role of "alkaline" magmas in hydrothermal Te mineralisation.The hydrothermal environment: Measure preferences of Te and Se for different minerals to predict mineral hosts and design ore process strategies. Model water-rock reaction in "alkaline" magma-related hydrothermal systems to test whether the known association is controlled by water chemistry.The critical zone environment: Determine the chemical forms and distributions of Te and Se in the weathering environment to understand solubility, mobility and bioavailability. This in turn controls the geochemical halo for exploration and provides a natural analogue for microbiological extraction.The sedimentary environment: Identify the geological and microbiological controls on the occurrence, mobility and concentration of Se and Te in coal - a possible major repository of Se. Identify the geological and microbiological mechanisms of Se and Te concentration in oxidised and reduced sediments - and evaluate these mechanisms as potential industrial separation processes.Microbiological processing: Identify efficient Se- and Te-precipitating micro-organisms and optimise conditions for recovery from solution. Assess the potential to bio-recover Se and Te from ores and leachates and design a bioreactor.Ionic liquid processing: Assess the ability of ionic solvents to dissolve Se and Te ore minerals as a recovery method. Optimise ionic liquid processing and give a pilot-plant demonstration.This is the first holistic study of the Te and Se cycle through the Earth's crust, integrated with groundbreaking ore-processing research. Our results will be used by industry to: efficiently explore for new Te and Se deposits; adapt processing techniques to recover Te and Se from existing deposits; use new low-energy, low-environmental impact recovery technologies. Our results will be used by national agencies to improve estimates of future Te and Se supplies to end-users, who will benefit from increased confidence in security of supply, and to international government for planning future energy strategies. The public will benefit through unhindered development of sustainable environmental technologies to support a low-CO2 society.

从化石燃料转向低二氧化碳技术将导致某些重要原材料的消耗增加。碲 (Te) 和硒 (Se) 是光伏 (PV) 太阳能电池板中必不可少的“电子技术”元素。它们很稀有，开采量也很小；它们在地球上的位置鲜为人知；回收它们在技术和经济上都具有挑战性；它们的回收和再循环会对环境产生重大影响。然而，预计需求将激增，到 2020 年，光伏薄膜生产将消耗大部分开采的 Se，并超过 Te 的供应。目前，这些元素仅作为铜和镍精炼的副产品提供，并且从这些矿石中的回收率正在下降，导致供应风险，可能阻碍光伏的推广。满足未来需求需要新的方法，包括从副生产转向富硒和碲矿石的定向加工。我们的研究旨在通过了解控制这些元素如何以及在地壳中集中的位置的过程来解决供应安全问题；并以最小的环境和经济成本实现其回收。这将涉及来自勘探商、生产商、加工商、最终用户和学术界的超过 20 个工业合作伙伴，捐款超过 50 万英镑。跨越 6 个环境的重点目标将针对关键的知识差距。岩浆环境：开发精确测量矿物和岩石中 Se 和 Te 的方法 - 它们通常浓度非常低，并且由于缺乏可靠数据而阻碍了研究。通过实验确定碲和硒在硫化物液体和岩浆之间的分布（需要预测它们发生的位置），并使用众所周知的岩浆系统来验证这些数据。评估“碱性”岩浆在热液 Te 矿化中的公认但知之甚少的作用。热液环境：测量 Te 和 Se 对不同矿物的偏好，以预测矿物宿主并设计矿石加工策略。模拟“碱性”岩浆相关热液系统中的水-岩石反应，以测试已知的关联是否受水化学控制。关键区域环境：确定风化环境中 Te 和 Se 的化学形态和分布，以了解溶解度、流动性和生物利用度。这反过来控制了勘探的地球化学晕，并为微生物提取提供了天然的类似物。沉积环境：确定煤中硒和碲的出现、流动性和浓度的地质和微生物控制——煤炭可能是硒的主要储存库。确定氧化和还原沉积物中 Se 和 Te 浓度的地质和微生物机制 - 并将这些机制作为潜在的工业分离过程进行评估。微生物处理：识别有效的 Se 和 Te 沉淀微生物并优化从溶液中回收的条件。评估从矿石和渗滤液中生物回收 Se 和 Te 的潜力，并设计生物反应器。离子液体处理：评估离子溶剂作为回收方法溶解 Se 和 Te 矿石矿物的能力。优化离子液体加工并进行中试示范。这是对地壳中碲和硒循环的首次整体研究，并与突破性的矿石加工研究相结合。我们的成果将被业界用于： 有效勘探新的碲和硒矿床；采用加工技术从现有矿床中回收碲和硒；使用新的低能源、低环境影响的回收技术。我们的研究结果将被国家机构用来改进对最终用户未来 Te 和 Se 供应的估计，最终用户将受益于供应安全信心的增强，并被国际政府用来规划未来的能源战略。公众将受益于可持续环境技术的不受阻碍的发展，以支持低二氧化碳社会。

项目成果

Paradoxical co-existing base metal sulphides in the mantle: The multi-event record preserved in Loch Roag peridotite xenoliths, North Atlantic Craton

• DOI: 10.1016/j.lithos.2016.09.035
• 发表时间: 2017-04
• 期刊: Lithos
• 影响因子: 3.5
• 作者: H. Hughes;I. McDonald;M. Loocke;I. Butler;B. Upton;W. John;Faithfull

Sulphide Sinking in Magma Conduits: Evidence from Mafic-Ultramafic Plugs on Rum and the Wider North Atlantic Igneous Province

岩浆管道中的硫化物下沉：来自朗姆酒和更广泛的北大西洋火成岩省的镁铁质-超镁铁质塞子的证据

• DOI: 10.1093/petrology/egw010
• 发表时间: 2016
• 期刊: Journal of Petrology
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: Hughes H

Effects of magmatic volatile influx in mafic VMS hydrothermal systems: Evidence from the Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus

• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.119325
• 发表时间: 2020-01
• 期刊: Chemical Geology
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: Andrew J. Martin;M. Keith;Daniel B. Parvaz;I. McDonald;A. Boyce;K. McFall;Gawen R. T. Jenkin;H. Strauss;C. MacLeod

Magmatic Cu-Ni-PGE-Au sulfide mineralisation in alkaline igneous systems: An example from the Sron Garbh intrusion, Tyndrum, Scotland

• DOI: 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2016.08.031
• 发表时间: 2017
• 期刊: Ore Geology Reviews
• 影响因子: 3.3
• 作者: S. Graham;D. Holwell;I. McDonald;Gawen R. T. Jenkin;N. J. Hill;A. Boyce;J. Smith;C. Sangster

Cobalt and precious metals in sulphides of peridotite xenoliths and inferences concerning their distribution according to geodynamic environment: A case study from the Scottish lithospheric mantle

• DOI: 10.1016/j.lithos.2015.11.007
• 发表时间: 2016
• 期刊: Lithos
• 影响因子: 3.5
• 作者: H. Hughes;I. McDonald;J. Faithfull;B. Upton;M. Loocke